Devon
Known History Devon Hollant was born in 1950 in the city of Chicago. The details of his early childhood are unclear, but numerous bios and articles written about his artwork in later years mention his family coming into money in the early 60s. His family was introduced to a world of opportunity and privilege that Devon took full advantage of. He'd displayed artistic talent from an early age, taking materials or items scavenged throughout his home neighborhood of Southside to create startlingly intricate charicatures of people. While in high school he displayed a particular affinity for sculpting. He even won prestige amongst the community for some of his works, displayed around the neighborhood until some time after his apparent disappearance. He graduated from a magnet school in Chicago and went to study abroad in France, attending college to focus specifically on his artistic abilities. Throughout his time there he was praised for his intelligence and how he applied it to his works. Many of his sculptures incorporated abstract symbolism and represented greater themes that he would continue to explore in his work. He finally achieved fame with two pieces, respectively called "Falling" and "Walking." Falling depicts a highly detailed, elderly man who has fallen and is grasping his feet, pulled away from a heavy robe. They appear to have "melted" into a puddle that the man's stone eyes look at with abject horror. Walking depicts a much more youthful version of the same man, nude and standing tall. His feet are notably inhuman. When interviewed about the pieces, Mr. Hollant confirmed that Walking comes after Falling. Interviews on the subject of how they related to other pieces that he'd made generated quite the stir amongst his constituents, and soon enough he began travelling to other European countries to exhibit some of his work alongside other up and coming artists. During the 1970s, his fame continued to expand, and he even made some tours throughout the United States, returning to his home of Chicago with some celebration amongst those that recognized him. It was in 1977 when he returned home that he began to tend towards more eccentric works, including a large set up of statues in Amsterdam that incorporated "geomantic elements" as the artist put it. Skeptics took note and he slowly fell out of favor with the mainstream artistic community until he retreated from the public world altogether at the end of the decade. To this day, nobody is quite sure where the enigmatic Hollant disappeared to. His disappearance and apparent interest in the occult has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories and fringe articles. In the city of Chicago his influence is still recognizable in the place of sights where some of his more ambitious "found" statues stood. Nobody knows who dismantled them, but supposedly it occured "overnight." The sites of each one have consequently never been built upon. Life at Home His Family Devon's father, Nathaniel Hollant was a very strict and severe man. A schoolteacher and a devout follower of the Bible, Devon and his mother Joyce never missed Church. This same devout steadfastedness was applied to his son, and Devon never acted out of turn. A hard worker in school and his personal life, when his talent for the arts arose, Nathaniel ensured that Devon would pursue them to the utmost of his ability, unaware of just how much they would count for soon in their lives. His mother Joyce was a quiet but intelligent woman. Where Nathaniel concerned himself with matters educational and spiritual for the community, she was frequently involved in the very practical aspects of keeping things running. A frequent arbitrator of issues and minor crime that the police wouldn't deal with, she was respected as a calm but fearsome keeper of the peace. When the family came into wealth under strange circumstance in the 60s, the Hollants moved to the southernmost section of the Black Belt and Nathaniel began working at a magnet school which Devon also attended. He graduated from high school with high grades and went on to study abroad in France. Classmates interviewed about him once his artwork earned him fame were noted as frequently mentioning his unusual and somewhat anti-social tendencies. His teachers praised him as fascinatingly intelligent but introverted. The Other Flock Devon, the perfectly behaved child of a respected and devout member of the community, had a ravening intellect. As soon as he learned how to read, he was eager to attack any literature he could find. Unfortunately, Southside was far from the best place to acquire any number of stimulating books... Which lead to the discovery of less savory sources of knowledge. Southside had a local reputation for strange happenstance in the night, and even stranger people hiding amongst the bereaved population. A young and inquisitive Devon carefully snuck out at night to explore this world after hearing rumors from neighbors and friends, and found himself in the company of strange men. These men met in the nights to commiserate some strange, occult religion that Devon's young mind was never able to fully grasp. He was however provided with a number of books by the men to read in secret, beginning with the mundane and gradually turning to darker lores and histories. When Nathaniel Hollant discovered one of these books hidden underneath his bed, Devon came home from his modest schooling and spent no more nights out with the other flock. Personality Devon is a quiet, reserved man. He tends to speak only when absolutely necessary, and doesn't seem affected by much. He's respectful of his coterie-mates. In particular, he's fond of academics and artistic individuals, if the two are one and the same, all the better. Anything to do with the manipulation of flesh and the Blood seems the only obvious way to trigger a strong, positive response from him. Devon is soft spoken, but his voice carries a certain weight of authority. In life, he was clearly used to being listened to. Whether this is from his upbringing, his brief celebrity or his mysterious sire is unclear. Devon is a vicious combatant. He makes use of heavy and vicious looking machetes as far as the coterie has seen now. They've also seen him utilize a portion of his strange, new abilities. For those who recall how things were, they may not be nearly as shocking, if not unusual. For Rava and Guy however, the moment when they get to see him first manifest his spikes will be quite the surprise. Where the focused ferocity he exhibits in combat comes from is another question frequently pondered by those that watch him engage in combat. Miscellaneous Devon has been in Cairo awhile now. '''In this world, Devon's grasp of Arabic and the city itself seems far removed from his unfamiliarity with the city previously. He is able to read and write the language with relatively little difficulty, and he seems perfectly at home in the streets. '''His torso is covered in scars, and looking at them would no doubt produce a horrified reaction in a mortal if they could see all of them. One might theorize he was in a serious industrial accident, or horrifically tortured... Though even the most experienced torturer would be hard-pressed to find out what had caused them. Devon's sense of fashion is there, albeit plain. His longcoat aside, he dresses in button down shirts both short sleeve and long. He mostly wears cheap and subdued long sleeve shirts to hide his attention grabbing scars. He wears strikingly similar pairs of jeans. His constant are his tough, workman's shoes, which stand up well to the elements and other challenges. '''Devon doesn't have fangs. '''He never smiles anyway and speaks rarely, but amongst Kindred, once you notice it, it's hard to ignore, if not horrifying or disgusting. At the very least, mortals can't tell he's a vampire by the trademark fangs. Rumor has it... *... He was very fond of hallucinogenics. *... He was in a cult. *... He is fond of "sword practice" with Guy. *... He's not really a vampire at all, he's something lesser. *... He was seriously abused by his sire, given the scars. *... He is an avid follower of Scientology. Category:Active Characters Category:Vampire Category:Player Characters Category:Mekhet Category:Norvegi Category:Ordo Dracul Category:Poor Category:Ancilla